Amber Rudd declares there will be no inquiry into the Battle of Orgreave

The Home Secretary has said the Government will not pursue an inquiry into the notorious clash between police and miners at Orgreave.

Amber Rudd announced in a statement today that there would be no probe into the conduct of South Yorkshire Police during the violent encounter in 1984.

Her decision comes after the Hillsborough victims urged the secretary of state on Sunday not to limit an inquiry to a private review, instead committing to an open, panel-style hearing.

A twisted sign, felled concrete posts and a broken wall tell the story of violence outside a coking plant in OrgreaveCredit:
PA

The announcement will come as a bitter disappointment to campaigners.

She said: "This has been a difficult decision to make, and one which I have thought about very carefully. I have now concluded that there is not a sufficient basis for me to instigate either a statutory inquiry or an independent review.

"I know that this decision will come as a significant disappointment to the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign and its supporters."

Ms Rudd added that "policing is very different" now to what it was 30 years ago.

Amber Rudd, the Home SecretaryCredit:
REX/Shutterstock

"There would therefore be very few lessons for the policing system today to be learned from any review of the events and practices of three decades ago," she said. "This is a very important consideration when looking at the necessity for an inquiry or independent review and the public interest to be derived from holding one."

Ms Rudd stressed that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is working with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to determine whether material related to the policing at Orgreave is relevant to the criminal investigations following the Hillsborough inquests.

A review in 1998 into the Hillsborough disaster carried out by Lord Justice Stuart-Smith was said to have stalled the families' pursuit of the truth after he concluded new inquests were not warranted.

The relatives of those who died in the footballing tragedy said electing a single judge to review the case behind closed doors would be inadequate.

Margaret Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said: "A judicial security approach would be completely unacceptable as history shows in our case that it only served to lengthen the cover-up."

Burnham: We need the truth into Orgreave

01:03

Anger at refusal to allow inquiry

Many have reacted with fury to the news that Amber Rudd will not allow an inquiry into Orgreave.

In the Commons, Labour's former shadow home secretary Andy Burnham accused the Government of an "establishment stitch-up".

Speaking during questions to the Home Office, Mr Burnham said: "Given that the IPCC found evidence of perjury and perversion of the course of justice, and given that in the last month new evidence has emerged from former police officers who were at Orgreave of orchestrated violence and the mass manufacture of police statements, are we right in concluding the establishment stitch-up that she has just announced today is nothing more than a nakedly political act?"

Andrew Burnham said the decision was an 'establishment stitch up'Credit:
Getty Images

There were cries of "disgraceful" and "shameful" from the Labour benches as Ms Rudd addressed the House, while dozens of campaigners in the public gallery could be seen shaking their heads at the Home Secretary's comments.

In response to Mr Burnham, Ms Rudd said: "No. The right honourable gentleman is entirely wrong.

"He chooses to politicise it, where there is none here. I had a meeting, as he knows, with the campaign group.

"We had a frank exchange of information about it, but the fact is just because he disagrees with the decision I have made, does not mean that it is the wrong decision at all.

"I have made it honestly, based on the evidence."

Labour MP Sarah Champion, who has Orgreave in her Rotherham constituency, said campaigners had travelled to London to watch in the public gallery with the understanding they would be met by the Home Office and hear an inquiry announced.

Labour MP Sarah Champion Credit:
Atlantic Productions

She said: "I am beyond shocked about this, I am incredibly frustrated for the people who will never see justice, for years research has been done by the Orgreave Truth and Justice Committee, and evidence gathered by the IPCC, and this feels like a complete snub to the people of South Yorkshire. So this is what they think of us."

Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh, who raised demands for an inquiry with then home secretary Theresa May in a 2015 letter signed by more than 100 Labour colleagues, said it was a "disgraceful betrayal of justice" and accused Ms Rudd of "leading campaigners up the garden path only to deny justice at the 11th hour".

Ms Haigh said that without an inquiry, evidence would be left to "gather dust" in South Yorkshire Police archives.

"For the truth to out, all records pertaining to Orgreave from police forces across the country must be released and there must be an independent reviewer to oversee it," she said.

"The Home Secretary today has put a screeching brake on the search for truth.

"For many communities in South Yorkshire the question of how police forces from across the country - not just South Yorkshire - which are supposed to be there to serve them could be used against them in such a brutal, deliberate way has left a bitter legacy. This decision will exacerbate that."

I represent many men who were at #Orgreave. Justice hidden is justice denied. Labour will set up an Inquiry as soon as elected to office.

Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrats' shadow home secretary, said: "People deserve answers about what happened at Orgreave. We must have confidence in our police forces and avoid any suggestion that there may have been a stitch-up by people in power to try to cover up wrong doing.

"A full and proper inquiry is required to restore trust and confidence and I am dismayed that the Home Secretary has failed to establish one."

Absolutely appalling that there will be no inquiry into #Orgreave. Gvt has led campaigners up the garden path to deny justice at the 11th hr

Senior backbencher and Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn described the decision as "shameful", adding: "It's time the truth was told and the Government is failing in its responsibility by ruling out an inquiry."

Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock branded Ms Rudd's decision an "absolute disgrace", while Barnsley MP Michael Dugher said it was "a complete betrayal of campaigners and a spit in the face for every former coalfield community".

Mr Dugher described the announcement as "a political decision to protect the interests of the Tory party".

Given the substantial concerns that exist, it is astonishing that the Home Secretary will not commit to an inquiry or review into #Orgreave.

South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings said he was "shocked and dismayed" by the decision.

He said the "former miners and their families deserved to know the truth about what happened that day".

Dr Billings added: "The government have marched the Campaign for Truth and Justice to the top of the hill only to march them down again.

This was a critical moment for the police service in South Yorkshire. It could have shown that it had really learned lessons of past mistakes and was ready to co-operate fully with any enquiry. We wanted to see a new era of openness with no attempt to be self-justifying or defensiveDr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner

"I am not convinced by the reasons given for refusing an investigation. No one has ever suggested that the events of Orgreave were comparable in every respect to the disaster at Hillsborough. But the former miners and the former mining communities in South Yorkshire deserve an explanation as to what happened on that day and where Orgreave fits in the wider story of the miners' strike.

"I believe the government has shied away from agreeing an enquiry because of those wider issues.

"South Yorkshire suffered at that time from industrial policies that saw the destruction of all our major industries - steel, heavy engineering and coal mining. We live with the consequences today.

"South Yorkshire Police were ready to co-operate in any enquiry. We had agreed to look at how the archives could be made available. Steps had already been taken to recruit a professional archivist to ensure all documents and other material would have been available to any enquiry.

"This was a critical moment for the police service in South Yorkshire. It could have shown that it had really learned lessons of past mistakes and was ready to co-operate fully with any enquiry. We wanted to see a new era of openness with no attempt to be self-justifying or defensive.

"I have offered to meet with the policing and fire service minister to discuss how the force can move forward under new leadership and having learned the lessons of the past.

"But I am deeply disappointed and dismayed by today's decision."

Amber Rudd's full statement

"The Government has been considering a submission from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign on the need for an Inquiry or independent review into the events that occurred at Orgreave Coking Plant on 18 June 1984, and subsequently.

This has been a difficult decision to make, and one which I have thought about very carefully. I have now concluded that there is not a sufficient basis for me to instigate either a statutory inquiry or an independent review. I know that this decision will come as a significant disappointment to the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign and its supporters and I have set out in a letter to them today the detailed reasons for my decision which include the following points.

Despite the forceful accounts and arguments provided by the campaigners and former miners who were present that day, about the effect that these events have had on them, ultimately there were no deaths or wrongful convictions.

The Campaigners say that had the consequences of the events at Orgreave been addressed properly at the time, the tragic events at Hillsborough would never have happened five years later. That is not a conclusion which I believe can be reached with any certainty.

It was absolutely right that the Government established the Hillsborough Independent Panel. Significantly the Panel’s report led to the High Court quashing the original inquests verdicts and the opening of the fresh inquests. The jury’s determinations and findings were unequivocal and clear: 96 victims were unlawfully killed. The criminal investigations should now be allowed to proceed unimpeded. The IPCC is working with the CPS to assess whether material related to the policing at Orgreave is relevant to the Hillsborough criminal investigations. The intention is that criminal investigations in respect of Hillsborough will provide files to the CPS by the turn of the year following which the CPS will make decisions about whether any criminal proceedings will be brought as a result.

The Campaign and their supporters explained to me when I met them that they want to get to the bottom of what happened on the 18 June 1984, and that only by doing so will their trust, and that of their community, be restored in the police.

However, there have been very significant changes in the oversight of policing since 1984, at every level, including major reforms to criminal procedure, changes to public order policing and practice, stronger external scrutiny and greater local accountability.

The operational delivery and practice of public order policing has moved on a great deal from the arrangements in 1984, and tactics have now been reviewed and altered several times both by the police and the courts.

Protections which were singularly lacking at the time of Orgreave now exist with the introduction in the mid-80s of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act which has vastly improved the way police investigations and powers operate.

The creation of the Crown Prosecution Service in 1986, with the introduction of independent CPS prosecutors, fundamentally altered the prosecution of offences. It ended the existence of ad hoc prosecution arrangements across the country whereby a mixture of police prosecutors and private firms of solicitors - hired by the police and acting for and on the instruction of the police – conducted prosecutions.

With regards to the external scrutiny of complaints against the police, this was strengthened by the creation, in 1985, of the Police Complaints Authority which was replaced in 2004 by the more effective Independent Police Complaints Commission and in turn will be replaced by the Office for Police Conduct in 2017. The exemplary standards of behaviour expected of everyone who works in policing were reinforced by the introduction of a statutory Code of Ethics, laid before this House in 2014.

Lastly, the introduction of directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners in 2012 has given the public a voice in shaping their local policing priorities and improved the accountability of police leadership.

Over 30 years later, policing is very different and one of my key concerns as Home Secretary is to ensure there is a policing system which works effectively and fairly now. The policing landscape has changed fundamentally since 1984 – at the political, legislative and operational levels. The same is true also for the wider criminal justice system.

There would therefore be very few lessons for the policing system today to be learned from any review of the events and practices of three decades ago. This is a very important consideration when looking at the necessity for an inquiry or independent review and the public interest to be derived from holding one.

Taking these considerations into account, I do not believe that establishing any kind of inquiry is required to allay public concerns or for any other reason.

I believe that we should focus on continuing to ensure that the policing system is the best it can be for the future, including through reforms before Parliament in the Policing and Crime Bill, so that we can have the best possible policing both in South Yorkshire and across the country."